Marikana men drank blood of their victim, North West High Court hears

AFP/File / Alexander JoeSouth African miners are pictured on a march near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana in January 2014 during a series of strikes by workers

They dipped their fingers in his blood, some scooped it with their hand and drank it. They also put it in a bottle and left with it, court hears.

A group of men drank the blood of a man they had killed, the North West High Court heard on Wednesday.

“They dipped their fingers in his blood, some scooped it with their hand and drank it, they also put it in a bottle and left with it,” an eyewitness told the court.

The witness, who is in the witness protection programme, said she saw Aubrey Seitsang hacking Sabata Petros Chale with a panga on the head, and also saw Forum 4 Service Delivery councillor Napoleon Webster at the scene when Chale was killed.

She knew Seitsang as one of the leaders who arranged houses for people in Marikana and said she had been at many meetings where Seitsang was present.

After one of the meetings she approached Webster and asked him for a house, as she had seen that he was in charge of the process of allocating houses.

“He agreed to give me a house; we went to see that house and he told me other women got houses; he had to sleep with them and wanted sexual favours from me in exchange of the house. He wanted to rape me, he even followed me to my rented place and I was rescued by a friend who arrived when he wanted to rape me.”

The witness told the court she saw Chale chased by a group of men, and Seitsang hacked him with a panga over the head when Chale managed to get in her yard.

“His blood sprayed on me; it also sprinkled on the chairs. Sabata [Chale] went inside the house as the door was not closed; the group followed him and hacked him. He left my house and went to the neighbours. He was shot with something on the stomach before he fell, the group was joined by another and they dipped their fingers in Sabata’s blood…”

Doctor Moeti Isaac Siko, who conducted an autopsy on Chale’s body, told the court Chale was stabbed several times. He had multiple lacerations in the head, he was stabbed in the shoulder, his left lung had collapsed and had been punctured.

“He had six stab wounds in his head, three in the left shoulder, one each on his right and left flanks, and one on the left side of his chest.”

His colon also had a stab wound and he died due to injuries he sustained. He died due to multiple injuries and sharp force trauma.